Deutsche Telekom's third quarter profit fell 20% as it continued to lose landline subscribers, an Associated Press report said.
The Associated Press report said the Bonn-based company earned 1.94 million euros ($2.48 million) in the in the three months through September, down from 2.44 million euros ($3.1 million) in the same period a year earlier.
Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had expected 1 billion euros ($1.28 million).
Sales rose 2.8% to 15.48 billion euros ($19.8 billion), the company said in a statement.
The company, Europe's biggest telecoms firm by sales, has been losing customers to rivals such as Arcor and Mobilcom which offer lower prices for traditional telephone services bundled with high-speed Internet access.